


Little Talks

by CrystalQueer



Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, i just think kel should get to be angry is all, post true ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 23:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30063177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalQueer/pseuds/CrystalQueer
Summary: The day Sunny finally emerged from his house had been the first day Kel had felt truly happy in years and the days following that were the happiest of his life. Now it sickened him to think that he had high-fived the hands of a murderer. It hurt even more to think of all the time he had spent defending Basil from Aubrey’s gang, unknowingly defending someone who had hanged Mari.Kel sniffed and angrily kicked the sand of the playground which did nothing but throw dust in his own face and make him cough. He was in Faraway park, it was dark, but his parents wouldn’t care if he came home late, they were too focused on Hero to notice if Kel went missing for a few hours.A familiar dry laugh caught his attention and he stopped rubbing sand out of his eyes to find the source of the noise… there she was, Aubrey, a few feet away with her eyebrows arched.“What’d the sand do to you?” She asked in an awkward, humorless tone, like she was trying to break the ice with a joke. It wasn’t funny.- -(Or, days after Sunny tells the truth, Kel and Aubrey have a talk.)
Relationships: Aubrey/Kel (OMORI)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 70





	Little Talks

**Author's Note:**

> Title from [Little Talks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSdjztTxYgk) by Of Monsters and Men
> 
> Fic vaguely based off of [Battle Cries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E3YltoDN00) by The Amazing Devil

_“Come at me, you blaggards!” Aubrey yelled from the top of the slide, brandishing a stick like a sword._

_Kel snorted a laugh. “‘Blaggards’?” He asked, interrupting their game. “That’s a stupid word.”_

_Aubrey came down the slide and lightly bonked him on the head with her stick. “No it isn’t!” She whined. “I read it in a book! It’s an insult.”_

_“What’s it mean?”_

_“Um.” Aubrey paused, twisting her lips thoughtfully. “I don’t… know.” Her shoulders slumped, like her lack of knowledge was something she was ashamed of. She was upset, Kel noted, and maybe he shouldn’t have made fun of her word choice._

_He swallowed and spun around, pointing at the tree line behind them. “Aubrey, look out!” He cried, suddenly back into character. “The wizards! You’ve upset them with your taunt!”_

_“Oh no!” Aubrey turned to face in the same direction, raising her stick. “Don’t worry, Kel! I’ll protect you!”_

_Kel turned and frowned at her. “No, I’ll protect you.”_

_She rolled her eyes. “We can’t argue now or they’ll get us! We can protect each other. Now come on!” Aubrey snatched his hand and dragged him into the trees, waving her “sword” as she ran, yelling fiercely. Kel was caught off guard but recovered quickly and joined her in yelling taunts at the trees as they attacked their “enemies”._

_When dusk fell, Hero came to the park to collect Kel for dinner and found the two kids collapsed in the grass, staring up the clouds in quiet, too tired to continue playing. They had successfully waged war against the tree wizards, then Aubrey saved Kel when he was “kidnapped” by a fairy, then Kel saved Aubrey when she was “kidnapped” by a wizard (a different one), and by then they had been running around for hours gave up any hope of further battles._

_“This is it for us, soldier.” Kel said dramatically, raising an arm to the sky. “Take it all in… this is the last time we’ll see the sky before the wizards get us…”_

_Aubrey giggled and elbowed him. “You’re still playing?”_

_“Hey, this is a serious moment, don’t laugh!” Kel complained. “And yeah, aren’t you?” He was unwilling to end his game with Aubrey so soon. It was rare they got to spend time alone (they argued so much that they weren’t trusted together) and she was a lot of fun when she wasn’t being so bossy. And Hero and Mari would be proud of the two for solving their own arguments when they came up. It had been a good day!_

_“Hmm.” Aubrey frowned and looked around, then looked at Kel. “I guess. Where are the wizards?”_

_Kel waved vaguely. “All around us! They’re closing in! But I’m too tired to go on… Go, Aubrey… Save yourself.”_

_“I can’t leave you!” She exclaimed, almost sounding upset at the notion of abandoning Kel, even for a make believe game. “We’ll die……… together.”_

_“No, you won’t.” Hero interrupted, leaning over them with an amused expression._

_“AH! A wizard!” Kel yelled. “Aubrey!”_

_“I got this!” Aubrey yelled back as she sat up abruptly and bonked Hero with her stick._

_He winced. “Ow, Aubrey, don’t do that.”_

_Aubrey scrunched her face. “Sorry, Hero…”_

_“What are you doing here?” Kel asked, sitting up._

_“It’s time to come home f-”_

_“AWWW no!” Kel interrupted Hero before he could even finish. “I don’t wanna go home yet!”_

_“It’s getting dark.” Hero pointed out passively._

_Kel frowned and looked up at the sky. Hero was right, it was getting dark and the streetlights were flickering on one by one but he still didn’t want to leave, he was having fun with Aubrey! Speaking of, he turned to look at her and saw she was sitting with her shoulders hunched and her knees drawn up to her chest._

_“Bye, Kel.” She said softly when she saw him staring. “Bye, Hero.”_

_“Wanna come over for dinner?” Kel offered, cocking his head._

_Aubrey smiled slightly and looked like she was going to accept, but then she shook her head. “I should get home. Don’t want dad to worry, y’know.”_

_“Want us to walk you home?” Hero asked._

_“Sure.”_

_Kel was the first on his feet and kindly offered to help Aubrey up. Hero and Kel both knew that their mom would be mad at them for being late, but seeing Aubrey home safe was far more important and they would surely be forgiven for the delay. Aubrey and Kel joked and laughed for the whole walk, making jokes only they’d understand. Hero tried to get them to explain, but they couldn’t get past the first few words of an explanation before Kel would double over in laughter and Aubrey would stop to laugh at him._

_Such moments between the two were rare but treasured; they mainly hung out with the rest of the group but that day everyone else had been busy with something or another and left Aubrey and Kel to their own devices. Now and again they’d manage to hang out on their own and they’d play make believe again, always saving each other from invisible enemies and arguing over battle strategies, and their days always ended with them laying together in the grass, staring at the setting sun until Hero came to bring Kel home._

_As they got older, though, Kel started to stare at Aubrey more often than he stared at the sky._

_But they stopped hanging out at all when Mari died._

* * *

Kel would never, ever forget what he felt when he awoke to Polly’s horrified scream; panic stopped his heart and he sat bolt upright, Hero and Aubrey were both awake too and both looked as scared as Kel felt, Hero with an expression that said he was trying to stay calm and Aubrey with a wild-eyed expression of fear. He wouldn’t realize until a few minutes later that Sunny’s bed was empty.

Hero started to get up to investigate but Kel had always been faster.

He pushed past Polly where she stood in Basil’s doorway and the sight that greeted him in that godforsaken room would never leave his mind. Sunny and Basil were passed out in a tangle of limbs but there was nothing cozy about the pose; the room was dark but it was still very easy to make out the blood pooling around them, and all of the injuries they had sustained. He swallowed thickly but was frozen in shock, barely registering Hero shoving past him into the room and yelling for Polly to call nine one one.

“What’s going on?” Aubrey cried, sounding more panicked than Kel had ever heard her sound; she hadn’t yet seen it and he wasn’t about to let her, it would only scare her more.

“Don’t look!” Kel exclaimed as he spun around and grabbed her, looping an arm around her waist to hold her back.

Aubrey thrashed against him. “Let me go! What’s going on! Kel! What’s wrong?”

Hero was in the room, giving orders to Polly and Kel recalled dimly thinking, shouldn’t she be doing more, as the adult in the situation? And it was in that moment of distraction that Aubrey got away from him and saw into Basil’s room.

“Aubrey-!”

She froze, her eyes widened and her hand went to her mouth in shock and without a word she turned away and flung herself into Kel, shoulders shaking as she started to cry. Despite the “tough guy” act she had adopted over the years she was still a softie. She had never been able to handle seeing blood, and seeing two of her former best friends like _that_?

He hugged her, still feeling shocked himself. Kel knew there was more he could be doing and by Hero’s third or fourth shout for someone to _please fucking call an ambulance_ he reacted, jarred into action by the expletive. Aubrey broke away from him and slumped against a wall, sliding to the ground with her arms around her knees, and Kel left to find a phone.

The rest was a blur. The hospital. Waiting anxiously in the lobby for any kind of news, their parents coming and going, Sunny’s mom crying about losing her _only child_ … Then Basil’s room, with intent to visit Sunny next, but he came to them, and he-

It had been days since then.

Hero hadn’t left their room at all. Basil was out of the hospital but in a mental health care facility instead, Sunny’s mom took him to the city as soon as he was released, Aubrey had locked herself in her own house, and Kel…

Kel couldn’t stand to be at home because the air was all too similar to the way it had been when Mari died; their parents were fussing over Hero and ignoring Kel, it was like Mari had died all over again and in a way she had although their parents had no idea and Kel had no idea how to tell him or if he even should. Was it worth protecting Sunny if he wasn’t even here? Did he want to lie on behalf of a murderer?

He was mad. He was so mad. For _years_ Sunny had been locked away inside of his house leaving them all to cope alone with Mari’s supposed suicide. For _years_ Kel had done everything in his power to help Sunny even when Sunny ignored him, for _years_ Kel did everything he could to keep his friends together and he failed every single damn time he tried and because of that he spent every single day convincing himself that Sunny was just coping in his own way, they all would and they would all come around eventually!

The day Sunny finally emerged from his house had been the first day Kel had felt truly happy in _years_ and the days following that were the happiest of his life. Now it sickened him to think that he had high-fived the hands of a murderer. It hurt even more to think of all the time he had spent defending Basil from Aubrey’s gang, unknowingly defending someone who had _hanged Mari_.

(Maybe, a poisonous voice whispered in Kel’s mind, maybe Aubrey had been right to bully Basil.)

(But that couldn’t be right. She didn’t know anything about what had happened to Mari, she was just as shocked as the rest of them.)

Kel sniffed and angrily kicked the sand of the playground which did nothing but throw dust in his own face and make him cough. He was in Faraway park, it was dark, but his parents wouldn’t care if he came home late, they were too focused on Hero to notice if Kel went missing for a few hours.

A familiar dry laugh caught his attention and he stopped rubbing sand out of his eyes to find the source of the noise… there she was, Aubrey, a few feet away with her eyebrows arched.

“What’d the sand do to you?” She asked in an awkward, humorless tone, like she was trying to break the ice with a joke. It wasn’t funny.

“None of your business,” Kel muttered, turning away sharply. “Go away, Aubrey. I know you don’t want to see me anyway.”

“What gives you that idea?” She asked, and when he didn’t answer she walked around him and sat on one of the swings, making the chains creak under her weight. He heard an odd rattling noise, like candies in a cardboard box, and when he looked up, Aubrey was holding-

“Are you smoking?” He said.

“What? No!” Aubrey bit down on a short white stick with a crunch. “They’re fake,” she explained while chewing. “Kim and Vance snagged some from the candy store, something about ‘increasing our street cred’. It’s kinda stupid, but they’re not bad. Want one?” She offered the box.

Kel sat down on the swing next to her and took one of the sticks suspiciously. It was white and chalky and he doubted it’d have any flavour at all, but the crunch of it was pretty satisfying at least. They snacked in silence for a few minutes before Kel finally spoke again.

“What are you doing out here? It’s late.”

“Uh, yeah,” Aubrey said. “I could say the same to you, y’know.”

“Aubrey.”

“Kel.”

They stared at each other. Kel realized her eyes were brown.

“No contacts tonight?”

“I’m not getting all dressed up to sit in the park at night like some kind of loser.”

“Hey!”

“This is going nowhere,” Aubrey huffed.

“Whose fault is that?” Kel countered, arching his eyebrows.

She frowned at him. “I’m trying to talk, you’re the one being a prick.”

Kel huffed in annoyance. “Yeah, sorry I’m not f- thrilled to see you after you’ve been ignoring me for days. I’ve tried to talk to you and you’ve made it clear you don’t want me around. In fact, I really should just go so you can sulk alone,” He started to stand.

“Sit down,” Aubrey said, reaching out to stop him. “And stop being so fucking dramatic. I needed some time-”

“And I needed my friend!”

“Well, now you know how I felt after Mari died!”

Their voices had risen to yelling and they had both half-stood from their swings, turned to glare at each other; Aubrey’s hands were curled into tight fists and her eyes were watering, Kel was clutching the nearest chain with one hand so tightly that his knuckles were white and when Aubrey said _that_ he flinched as if he had been struck and slumped back down.

“I tried, you know,” He muttered. “For weeks, months even, I tried to talk to you. To you, and Basil, and Sunny, and anyone who would listen. I was all alone. None of you wanted anything to do with me, and I didn’t even have Hero’s support. I did my best, but you… all of you rejected me time and time again. What was I supposed to do, Aubrey? Keep trying? Keep trying to talk to you while you formed your little gang and started bullying Basil?”

Aubrey was quiet for a few long minutes. “Yes,” She said finally. “You should have kept trying then and you should have kept trying now-”

“I’m tired of trying, though!” Kel snapped. “I’m tired of everyone expecting me to fix everything without helping me at all! _You_ gave up on us too quickly and yet you were mad that _we_ left you behind? I-” He choked on his own words. “It’s all happening again. Mari has died again and now Sunny and Basil are gone and Hero’s back to wallowing and you’re back to avoiding me… I’m not doing this again.” He started to stand again but Aubrey grabbed his wrist.

“So now you’re really gonna avoid me?” She asked snidely. “ _Real_ fuckin’ mature Kel. We’re not kids anymore, we can talk about our feelings.”

Kel pulled his wrist out of her grasp. “Hilarious you say that, after avoiding me for _days,_ ” He spat.

Aubrey winced. “I needed time!”  
  
“And I needed my friend!” Kel repeated, spinning to face her. “We haven’t spoken in _years_ Aubrey, and the first time we talked, _really talked_ was when Sunny was around. I guess I’m not surprised, you’ve always liked him more than me and I was just excited to have you back! But as soon as Sunny’s out of the equation you go back to avoiding me. It makes sense but it doesn’t hurt any less!”

“I’m trying to talk to you now, dumbass! But you won’t listen!” Aubrey snapped. “Get your head out of your ass and sit down and _talk to me_ . We all fucking heard what Sunny said, and we all need time to process it, and _maybe_ we need some time to process it _alone_ but that doesn’t mean we have to stop fucking talking entirely! So sit. Down.”

He stared at her for a long time, thoughts racing through his head, but eventually he sighed heavily and sat down again. Neither spoke.

“Remember when we were kids, and… and those rare times anyone would swear around you, you’d gasp and get all shocked?” Kel asked quietly. “It’s kinda funny how that’s changed.”

Aubrey snorted. “Kim’s a bad influence,” She agreed. “When we first met she’d make fun of me for avoiding cuss words, and now she makes fun of me for saying ‘em even though it’s her fault I do.”

“Pfft. Remember that time, too, you compared me to a cactus? Basil’s face, man… Took him a second to recover and continue his speech.”

“God, yeah. And Hero didn’t really seem to know how to intervene.”

They snickered quietly; Kel could remember everyone’s faces then. And, yeah, Aubrey had been insulting him, but looking back it _was_ pretty funny.

Kel paused in his laughter and glanced at Aubrey; she was kinda pretty in the low light from the streetlamps and the stars, but she looked really tired and the shadows around her face only emphasized the bruises under her eyes.

“Are we gonna… actually talk about-”

“No,” Aubrey interrupted quickly. “I mean, not unless you want to, but… I’m tired tonight, Kel.”

“Yeah,” He quietly agreed. “Me too.”

Sunny killed Mari, and Basil helped him hide the body. Everyone spent four years believing Mari killed herself. The day Mari died was the day Sunny lost a sister, the day Aubrey and Kel lost a dear friend, and the day Hero lost his first love. Sunny’s confession in that cold, stark white hospital room had shaken Kel to his core. His best friend had murdered his own sister, and lied about it for years. Kel remembered Sunny collapsed soon after he finished talking, he remembered Aubrey storming out of the room past his body, and Hero taking Sunny to find a nurse; when Kel and Hero got home, Hero locked himself in their room.

Kel’s best friend murdered his own sister and covered it up.

He was mad about it, about Mari’s unjust death, about Sunny’s four year long lie and self-isolation, and he suspected he always would be. But “always” was a long time, which meant he and Aubrey would have a lot of time to talk about it. They could spare one night to reminisce.

“Remember when we played here as kids? Just the two of us when everyone else was busy?” Aubrey asked.

“Yeah. For some reason we were always fighting wizards,” Kel said. “Why was it always wizards?”

“I was reading that book series at the time, remember? I think Sunny and Basil were reading it too.”

“Ugggh you were all so into it but it was kinda dumb. But I don’t get why you hated wizards.”

“If you read the books you’d know,” Aubrey replied.

“Sure,” Kel rolled his eyes. “You were always like, obsessed with fighting things, which was funny ‘cause you were _you_ , but somehow I always ended up being the damsel in distress.”

“Not _always_ ,” Aubrey protested. “And it’s not like you minded. You’d sit up in that tower and use your falsetto princess voice… It was _so_ stupid.”

“You thought it was hilarious. And remember when I’d use it randomly and make you lose your shit? No one else understood _why_.”

“Yeah! I hated you for that,” She paused. “Now look at who's swearing.”

“What can I say,” Kel sighed dramatically. “You’re a bad influence. First cigarettes, now swear words… next thing you know I’ll be joining your gang-”

“-please-”

Kel pitched his voice up higher. “You’re the bad boy type my mother always warned me about,” he said, clasping his hands over his chest and looking dramatically up at the sky.

Aubrey lost it, she doubled over in laughter and the sudden shift in her weight made the swing tip, dropping her ass over teakettle into the sand. She lay there for a moment, stunned, and then started to laugh even harder. Kel joined in and even joined her in the sand, albeit far more gracefully.

They cackled together madly, and everytime Aubrey started to catch her breath Kel would try to do the voice again, but he’d immediately choke on laughter and make an odd squeaking noise instead that would send Aubrey into another fit. It lasted for several minutes until Aubrey began to lightly smack Kel on whatever body part she could reach.

“Okay, okay,” she gasped, whacking him with her forearm. “We- we need to stop before- before someone calls the cops on us about noise or something.”

“You mean this noise?” Kel asked impishly in his pitched up voice, sending Aubrey into another fit.

“ _Stopppp_ ,” She complained. “I- god, I can’t breathe!”

“Probably ‘cause of all the dust you’ve stirred up,” Kel replied normally, still shaking with occasional fits of laughter.

Their laughter turned to ragged panting as they tried to settle down and when they finally did calm down, Kel stood up and offered Aubrey a hand, which she accepted, only to pull him down again and inspire yet another long lasting fit of laughter.

“I’m gonna kill you,” Kel choked out.

“God couldn’t kill me,” Aubrey responded seriously, then her voice broke and she started to giggle again.

They tried again to settle down and succeeded this time, leaving them lying in the sand staring at the sky and breathing heavily while they tried to recover.

“Is it bad,” Kel asked, “that we’re laughing? Despite… y’know, everything?”

“No. I think it’s the opposite,” Aubrey replied, staring at the sky. “It’s good that we can laugh, ‘cause that has to mean that we’re okay.”

Kel cleared his throat. “I dunno about you but.. I’m _not_ okay. With any of it.”

“I’m not either,” Aubrey replied quietly. “But it’s all such a mess… I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to think about Sunny, or Basil, or even Mari- it’s… I mean, where do we even start?”

He reached out and took her hand, idly running his thumb over her knuckles. “I don’t know,” He admitted. “But… we’ll have to talk about _it_ eventually. With Hero, too. And… Maybe Basil.”

“Not tonight, though,” Aubrey said. “Please not tonight.”

“Yeah. Not tonight,” Kel agreed. “We’ve got the rest of summer to dwell on it, anyway.”

Silence settled over them like a blanket, broken only by crickets chirping in the woods.

Aubrey groaned suddenly and pressed her hands to her eyes. “I’m never going to get the sand out of my clothes,” She said. “Or my hair…” Her hands slid back over her forehead and into her hair, then she cupped them and tucked them under her head.

“Oh no. Me neither,” Kel realized. “We might as well burn our clothes at this point.” His expression soured. “Not like my parents would notice.”

“My mom wouldn’t care either,” Aubrey replied. “So, bonfire this weekend?” She turned to look at him, eyebrows arched.

Kel sucked air through his teeth. “Cigarettes, swear words, and now _arson_? You really are a bad influence,” he joked, turning to grin at her.

“Shut up.” She would’ve smacked him if her hands were free.

“Whatever. I’m down for a bonfire, but, to be clear, we aren’t actually burning our clothes, are we? Mom would kill me if she _did_ notice.”

“Nah, we don’t have to, we can find something else.”

“Wood, I hope.”

“Only wood? Coward.”

“I am _not_ a coward!” Kel stuck his tongue out at her indignantly. Aubrey only laughed and freed a hand to swat at him.

“Did we ever have a bonfire when we were kids?” She asked, turning away to look at the stars.

“I don’t think so,” Kel said, “I don’t think Hero and Mari trusted any of us around open fire. We did make s’mores over a candle once or twice though.”

“Ugh, those were so lame.”

“It was fun!” He paused. “Why did we stop?”

“You kept lighting your marshmallows on fire and scaring everyone,” Aubrey reminded him.

He laughed. “Oh yeah! They always tasted better burnt.”

“Gross.”

“ _You’re_ gross.”

“No, you.”

Quiet again. What time was it, even? It was so late… He couldn’t remember what time it had been when he left home, but it had definitely been a few hours since then, would his parents be angry about his absence? Would they _care_? He doubted they would even notice, they were all probably asleep without a care for what their son was doing.

Aubrey was staring at the stars, Kel was staring at Aubrey. She looked more relaxed now than he had seen her in years; whenever they crossed paths she always looked so angry. Confident, sure, and she usually looked like she was having fun with her friends, but there was always an anger in her eyes, especially when they met Kel’s.

It was nice to have her back.

He sighed and started to sit up on his elbows, sadly prepared to give a speech about how he ought to get home, but Aubrey stopped him with a question before he could speak.

“Would you speak to Sunny again?” She asked. “I mean, he’s gone now, but… If you could. Would you?”

Kel scowled and glanced at her, then looked away. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Ugh.” He flopped back down. “I don’t- I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

“...Why not?”

“Would you?”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second!”

“Kel.”

“ _Ugggh_ .” He draped his arms over his face. “I spent years trying to get him to come outside after she died, and then redoubled my efforts when that for sale sign went up and I heard they were moving. And he did finally come outside! I spent _three days_ with my best friend only to learn that he had been lying to me the entire time, and that he was a murderer! Would _you_ talk to someone after that?”

Aubrey was quiet for a few moments. “I guess not,” She answered finally. “I understand, and, I am _really pissed_ about it too, I mean, I loved Mari, she was like a sister to me, I can’t imagine… But Sunny, he spent four years alone with this, and you saw him- he was so thin and so pale like he hadn’t been taking care of himself at _all_ -”

“Aubrey-”

“I pity him, is all,” She continued. “I’ve been going to church for so long that I might’ve actually learned something about forgiveness over the years-”

“-Aubrey-”

“I dunno if I’ll ever talk to him again, he _killed_ Mari after all, but, if he reached out-”

“Aubrey!” Kel interrupted, his face all scrunched up under his arms to unsuccessfully prevent tears from escaping. “You said- you said not tonight.”

“I know- I- I just can’t stop thinking about it. And she keeps coming up when we try to talk about memories… We can’t avoid it, Kel-”

“I wish we could,” He sat up abruptly and wiped his face, hoping Aubrey wouldn’t notice the tear tracks. “I should get home. You should, too.”

She sighed wearily. “You’re probably right. I start waxing philosophy if I stay up too late,” Her tone was light, like she was trying to make a joke to lighten the mood, but the exhaustion that overlapped ruined the attempt. 

Aubrey sat up slowly and Kel pretended not to see her wipe her own face free of tears before she turned to look at him, wearing a tired half-smile. “Can you… walk me home?”

“Sure,” Kel said, getting to his feet and offering Aubrey a hand. “Just like old times, remember? We’d spend hours in the park, and then when Hero came to bring me home for dinner-”

“-You two would always walk me home. I always felt bad about that, I knew you’d probably get in trouble for being home late,” Aubrey admitted as she accepted Kel’s help and stood up. She didn’t let go once she was on her feet.

“ _Psh_ , it was nothin’. We had to make sure you got home safe.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to me here.”

“Hero said it was something about chivalry,” Kel shrugged. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah, hang on,” Aubrey tugged her hand free and stepped away to shake herself free of sand, she dusted off her back and shook out her hair and after a minute Kel did the same. He would have to sneak back inside, and that would be easier if he didn’t bring half of the park’s playground with him.

“You look ridiculous,” Aubrey teased.

Kel made a face at her. “You look stupid too!”

Aubrey stuck her tongue out at him.

“Hey, remember when we would go to the beach with everyone? Mari wouldn’t let us into the car until we had all shaken off the sand and took at least one shower each.”

“Yeah! And I’d _still_ go home with sand in my swimsuit. Loved the beach, but the sand was _hell_.”

“Mom was always so mad when Hero and I tracked a bunch of sand into the house. She’d make us sweep the floors the next day.”

“My dad was the same,” Aubrey said, pursing her lips. She reached out for Kel’s hand again. “I’m ready to go, by the way.”

“Oh, yeah, me too,” He took her hand and the pair began to slowly walk, neither eager for their returns home to uncaring families.

They were both quiet, nothing but the ever present crickets and the sound of their footsteps on the sidewalk to occupy their minds. Kel was focused on Aubrey’s hand in his. It wasn’t exactly odd, they held hands all the time as kids, everyone did be it for comfort or a buddy chain or whatever, but with Aubrey it had always felt a little odd. A little more significant.

Was it still significant now?

He glanced at Aubrey, her face a little washed out by the lamplight yet still pretty, and… he hoped so.

“Hey Kel?” Aubrey said softly as they got closer to her street.

“Yeah?”

She glanced at him, then stared down at her feet. He remembered she used to be so cautious about stepping on cracks in the sidewalk due to a poem they learned in school, and even now she still seemed to make sure that she avoided them.

Aubrey sighed. “I’m… I’m sorry. For everything. The bullying, and-”

“It’s ok-”

“No it isn't!” She interrupted. “None of it was! But I was so angry at all of you, and I… I didn’t know how to process that, and-”

“Aubrey,” Kel broke in gently. “It’s okay. It’s like Hero said, you still cared about us, you were just mad! It’s just like any of our other fights.”

“Kel-”

“Look, we’re here.... We can talk-” He yawned and stretched his free arm. “-Tomorrow. Or whenever. After we’ve both had some sleep.”

“Yeah, okay,” Aubrey didn’t seem convinced, nor did she seem ready to let go. Literally. Even stopped in front of her house she kept hold of Kel’s hand and stood, fidgeting with her free hand. “We still on for that bonfire?”

“Absolutely. I’ll bring the marshmallows.”

“We can meet at the park.”

“It’s a date.”

It was hard to tell with all the shadows, but Kel could have sworn Aubrey blushed. He didn’t say anything. She’d probably kill him for it.

They stood, staring at each other. Waiting. Waiting for what? Someone to be brave? Or someone to finally say goodbye, end their little reunion? Kel didn’t know what to do, he knew he’d see Aubrey again but he wouldn’t see her like this again, he wanted to be sure he would remember it: the night they talked, _really_ talked.

Finally, Aubrey broke the silence. “Well… Goodnight, Kel.”

Kel stifled another yawn. “G’night Aubrey.”

“Be safe on your walk home.”

“You know me, I’m like, the safest person around. Even _Hero_ isn’t as safe as me.”

Aubrey smiled. “Whatever, idiot. Just be careful.”

“I _will,_ I _promise_. You sound like my mom. Or Hero.”

“There are worse people to sound like,” She was stalling.

They both were. But Kel glanced at the sky and the moon looked to be dipping towards the trees… He really did have to leave.

“Goodnight, Aubrey,” He said again. “I’ll see you.”

“Yeah, see you.”

He squeezed Aubrey’s hand once before letting go and turned to walk away; waving over his shoulder at Aubrey, who still stood there, watching him. He didn’t miss her disappointed expression, but he didn’t know what to make of it. Nor did he know what to make of the disappointment in his own chest.

When he finally turned away and focused on his route home he could still feel Aubrey’s eyes boring into him. He felt like he missed an opportunity, she had been right there, he could’ve… What? Kissed her? She probably would’ve hated that, probably would’ve shoved him away and yelled at him for being an idiot and misreading the room, and how fucked up was it to want to kiss someone with whom he had been discussing the death of their mutual friend? ‘Yeah Mari was murdered by our two best friends- anyway, want to kiss?’ that would have been so stupid.

Kel groaned suddenly and pressed his hands into his eyes, then dragged them down his face. _He_ was so stupid, and now he’d have to live with regret for his inaction. He sighed heavily and dropped his hands to his sides.

That was just one more thing to think about.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't write romance and it shows <3 but I care Kel and Aubrey and I wanted to write something about them. This was mostly written between like one and four am with the rest was finished the next day, and it was supposed to be like a lot shorter but overall I am happy with how it came out! I think it's cute. <3 
> 
> Special thanks to [Polandspringz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/polandspringz/pseuds/polandspringz) for proofreading this! It was a massive help (especially considering how late at night I wrote this), and I really appreciate it and you.
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading, and if you enjoyed, please consider leaving a comment! <3


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